Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 60, No. 7, pp. 1893–1895, 2009
doi:10.1093/jxb/erp088 Advance Access publication 10 April, 2009
PLANT CULTURE
Symbolism of plants: examples from European-Mediterranean culture
presented with biology and history of art
Riklef Kandeler1 and Wolfram R. Ullrich2,*
1
2
Institute of Botany, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Gregor Mendelstr. 33, 1180 Wien, Austria
Institute of Botany, Darmstadt University of Technology, Kirchbergweg 6, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany
JUNE: Lilies
Lilies are a group of the most conspicuous flowers of early
summer. Thousands of cultivated varieties are available from
modern lists. However, wild lilies are distinctive enough to
have acquired religious and cultural significance in many
ancient cultures. It is fascinating to follow these cultural
aspects from antiquity to the modern age, although there are
far too many associations for them all to be covered here.
Biology
Among the various species Lilium candidum, the white or
Madonna lily, has always been the most important one.
Starting from its natural habitat in Palestine and Lebanon,
it was soon spread over the whole eastern Mediterranean by
the Phoenicians. As a wild plant it is only rarely found these
days growing in mountainous, dry rocky habitats, but at
lower altitudes it thrives as an escaped garden plant.
Characteristic of L. candidum are its tall, branchless stem,
the upright position of the flower buds, the large white
flowers with their pleasant fragrance, and the short leaves
along the whole stem almost to the ground (Fig. 1). It
flowers from May to June. A feature of L. candidum is that
the flowers are held erect with the petals reflexed to some
extent. By contrast, the flower buds and flowers of L.
chalcedonicum, the other species encountered in ancient wall
paintings, are pendent, bright red, and with strongly
reflexed petals. Restricted to the more humid, tree-covered
mountain areas it flowers from June to July. Long foliage
leaves grow out of the stem up to its tip. Another red lily
used in many medieval paintings is the central European
species L. bulbiferum which has fiery orange flowers held
erect rather like those of L. candidum.
Symbolism
Lilies in ancient and Minoan cultures: Lilies have a majestic
and awe-inspiring aura. Since the times of the Assyrian and
Egyptian empires they have been an emblem of the sovereignty of kings and a symbol of virginal innocence and the
bridal state (Solomon’s Song of Songs, 2, 1–2). This citation
has also been taken as an association of this lily with the
Hebrew Flower of Solomon, Judaism’s Star of David.
In a high-class villa in Amnisos, Crete, frescos from the
period between 1600 and 1500 BC have been uncovered
showing plants of L. candidum adjacent to step-like bands
of the top of a wall (Fig. 1). It is possible that the purpose
of this presentation was to support the claim of the landlord
for a noble life-style. An easier association of lilies with
power is seen in the throne hall of the Knossos Palace,
originating from about the same period. Both walls around
the throne of the priest-king were covered with painted
stylized lilies and griffins.
A different meaning of the lily is expressed in the frescos
excavated by Spyridon Marinatos (1986) in Akrotiri (Thera/
Santorin). Three walls of a relatively small room called the
‘lily chamber’ are covered down to the floor with a painted
rocky landscape in which red-blooming lilies thrive and
above them swallows fly (Fig. 2). The upright position of the
flower buds and flowers and the short leaves at the bottom of
the stem are usually properties of the white-flowered L.
candidum, but here the colour of the flowers is red. Perhaps
the features of the white and red lilies were combined on
purpose. This room was used in connection with wedding
ceremonies, even as the ritual bridal chamber. The lilies are
both beautiful decorations and represent purity passing into
adulthood. Altogether, lilies in their white and red forms can
be regarded as an aspect of the early summer and the worship
of Ariadne, who is assumed to be the local vegetation
goddess of Thera. Ariadne guarded the re-beginning of
growth, prosperity, fertility, and the blessing of the harvest.
In later Greek and Roman times, the lily was regarded as
the symbol of sublime love, procreation, and glory and was
used for making the ritual bridal wreath. In the Jewish
tradition (cf. Solomon’ Song of Songs, Ch. 2) lilies
symbolized youth and virginal state.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: [email protected]
ª The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved.
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1894 | Plant Culture
Fig. 1. (Left) Lilium candidum, Samos, 1995. (Right) Minoan lily fresco, Amnisos (c. 1600 BC, Museum Heraklion, Crete (Kandeler).
Lilies in the Byzantine Period: In the church of San
Apollinare in Classe (near Ravenna, 6th century AD) the
apse mosaic shows the Tabor mountain with the transfiguration of Christ. St Apollinaris, the first bishop of
Ravenna, stands in the centre below the large golden cross.
He is surrounded by a paradisical landscape characterized
by green meadows, trees, lilies and roses to signify that the
glorification of Christ radiates into nature itself.
Fig. 2. Landscape with lilies and swallows. Section of wall
fresco, room 2, ground floor, Delta complex, Akrotiri, Thera.
Doumas (1992), reproduced by kind permission of the Thera
Foundation.
Lilies in the Middle Ages: In the Middle Ages red lilies seem
to have been a symbol of the virgin Mary although the
white L. candidum was to become her particular flower,
symbolizing purity of soul and chastity. Hence its common
name, the Madonna Lily.
When Charles the Great proclaimed an order for the
imperial palaces in 812 (Capitulare de villis) it contained
a list of plants to be cultivated. This list of 73 herbaceous
plants almost exclusively contained useful and medicinal
plants, but mentioning ‘lilium’ in first place. In his
‘Hortulus’ poem, Strabo, the abbot of the monastery of
Reichenau (an island in Lake Constance) (809–849 AD)
praised lily bulbs as a remedy against snakebites, adding
that the lily points to purity of faith. Thus, the language
of symbols was well known, with lilies often appearing
Plant Culture | 1895
After the separation of land and sea, plants and trees are
created. Two of the three trees bear lily flowers, the other
roses.
There are many examples of paintings where white lilies
were combined with Mary and other saints in the late
Middle Ages and early Renaissance (Heydenreich, 1972). In
the transition period between Gothic and Renaissance in
about 1440, Giovanni di Paolo painted the expulsion of
Adam and Eve from paradise by the Archangel Michael.
Here, paradise is characterized by lilies, roses, carnations,
and pomegranates. At the height of the Renaissance,
Leonardo da Vinci painted The Annunciation (1472–1475)
of the Virgin Mary by Archangel Gabriel who holds
a Madonna lily.
Lilies in the Modern Age: Figure 3 shows just one example
in which white lilies continued to play a role for a painter,
Augusto Giacometti, who otherwise was a pioneer tending
towards abstract painting (Hartmann, 1981). In his pastel
drawing of the Annunciation, ‘Annunciation to St Mary’
(1928), the white lily is standing in a jug close to Mary who
is seen only as a blue shade. The angel glides down a narrow
stairwell. The painting is designed as an enigmatic image.
Here something of the aura and magic of the lily has been
recaptured, which was particular of lilies from Minoan
times up to the Middle Ages as symbols of purity and bridal
state.
References
Doumas C. 1992. The wall paintings of Thera. Athens: The Thera
Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos.
Fig. 3. Augusto Giacometti, Annunciation to Mary. Pastel on
paper. (Reproduced by kind permission of the Bündner
Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland.)
in the art of the Middle Ages. In the cathedral of
Monreale in Sicily (c. 1180 AD), among many mosaics
there is also a presentation of the third day of creation.
Hartmann H. 1981. Augusto Giacometti, ein Leben für die Farbe,
Pionier der abstrakten Malerei. Chur: Schriftenreihe des Bündner
Kunstmuseums 211.
Heydenreich LH. 1972. Italienische Renaissance. Anfänge und
Entfaltung in der Zeit von 1400 bis 1460. Universum der Kunst.
München: CH. Beck.
Marinatos S. 1986. Kreta, Thera und das mykenische Hellas. Special
edition. München: Hirmer.